The German company Fantasy Productions GmbH, often abbreviated to FanPro, publishes German translations of many of FASA's Shadowrun products under license in Germany, including the second and third edition main rules and various sourcebooks. They have also published a number of original sourcebooks, reviews of which appear below courtesy of Jon Szeto (thanks!). All prices are in German Marks (DM).
The images on this page were saved from FanPro's web page, except for the cover of Deutschland in den Schatten, which was scanned by Gurth.
Fantasy Productions have a website at http://www.fanpro.com, and their snail-mail address is Postfach 1416, 40674 Erkrath, Germany. Phone (international access code)+49-211-9243-0, fax (international access code)+49-211-9243-410.
(An explanation of the items in each book review can be found here.)
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Review by: Jon Szeto
Release: 1992
Authors: Hans-Joachim Alpers, Jens Eggert, Martin Ellermeier, Marc Höhne, Störtebekers Erben, Guido Hölker, Michael Immig, Irene Fehlberg, Alex Kleesen, Hartwig Nieder-Gassel, Jörg Raddatz, Thomas Römer, Carsten Scheibe, Andreas Wichter
ISBN: 3-89064-708-1
Price: about DM 50 (mine was DM 49.80)
Pages: 196 (incl. 12 color)
Sections: Vorwort, Die Augen des Riggers, Schneller Vorlauf, Geschichte, Deutschland 205: Ein Überblick, Berlin: Studie in Anarchie, Hamburg: Venedig des Nordens, Der Rhein-Ruhr-Megaplex, Die Südstaaten, Die Länder der Erwachten, Der Freistaat Westphalen, Magie in Deutschland, Parteien und Policlubs, Wirtschaft, Forschung und Entwicklung, ISDN2: Die Matrix, Organisiertes Verbrechen, Connections, Archetypen, Ausrüstung, Erwachte Wesen, Karte: Die Länder der ADL
Overview: This is the original sourcebook that was the basis for FASA's Germany Sourcebook in 1994. Deutschland in den Schatten (Germany in the Shadows) contains some material (particularly the Hamburg write-up and new equipment, NPCs, and archetypes) that was not included in FASA's English version, presumably for space reasons.
Many Germans that I know dislike this book for a number of reasons. One of the main ones is that they feel that it is an unrealistic portrayal/projection of what Germany could be/should be sixty years into the future. (This in a game where elves ride Harley motorcycles, and dragons run for president.) Having lived in Germany for two years, I have to concede that some things mentioned are a bit hard to believe and require considerable suspension of disbelief. On the whole though, I think that the Allied German States is, mostly a very interesting and colorful area to do a shadowrun in. Mostly. (Do we need another bloody elf nation?)
The other main gripe others (other Germans, that is) have expressed about Deutschland in den Schatten is the equipment in the back, which they consider as too munchkinish. I tend to agree, for the most part. I do think there are some things in there which are useful and fairly well-balanced, but they are far outnumbered by the munchkin devices. It was probably a good idea that FASA decided to leave it out.
On the whole, it's not a bad book. It's not a good one, either, but FanPro (and FASA) have done worse.
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| Not rated |
Review by: Jon Szeto
Release: 1993
Authors: ?
ISBN: 3-89064-709-X
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: 128
Sections: ?
Overview: Schlagschatten is an adventure book printed in 1993 that follows up on Deutschland in den Schatten. There are three adventures in the book, each averaging about 40 pages in length (about as long as the adventures included in the Native American Nations Volumes One & Volume Two sourcebooks). The adventures are titled Murdermedia, Lösegeld für eine Leiche (Ransom for a Corpse), and Prometheus. There's also an index in the back that includes all equipment from Deutschland in den Schatten and all Shadowrun products up to 1992.
I haven't played in or run any of the adventures, so I really can't comment on any of them. Suffice it to say that if you liked Deutschland in
den Schatten, you should like Schlagschatten, and if you hated DidS, you probably won't like these adventures.
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| Not rated |
Review by: Jon Szeto
Release: 1996
Authors: ?
ISBN: 3-89064-727-8
Price: DM 36
Pages: ?
Sections: ?
Overview: Chrom & Dioxin takes another look at Central Europe in the Shadowrun world. There's a brief 2-page update of events since Deutschland in den Schatten, and there are also some more in-depth write-ups on North Germany, Westphalia, Greater Frankfurt <shameless plug>written by yours truly</shameless plug>, and Karlsruhe. However, the large majority of the book covers, in VERY exhaustive detail, the Swiss Confederation (which depending on how you look at it, has split into two autonomous regions: one French-speaking and one German-speaking). As with Deutschland in den Schatten, there's also a chapter in the back covering new weapons and equipment. I'm a little ambivalent about Chrom & Dioxin. It's very rich in detail, but seems to be poor in adventure hooks. In fact, dare I say it, it seems a little "sterile." The write-ups on North Germany and Westphalia appear to me to be little more than regurgitations of material originally found in DidS. I'll let someone else talk about Greater Frankfurt, but I'll admit that, as my first written work, it's not my best material. The new equipment also has the same concerns of a lot of munchkiny toys with only a small handful of interesting pieces.
Still, I'd say that Chrom & Dioxin is fairly useful, if nothing else than for the Switzerland material.
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| Not rated |
Review by: Jon Szeto
Release: 1997
Authors: ?
ISBN: 3-89064-733-2
Price: DM 39.80
Pages: ?
Sections: ?
Overview: Walzer, Punks & Schwarzes ICE is FanPro's fourth original sourcebook. It consists of three major parts. The first part covers Austria, though not with the same exhaustive detail as Switzerland in Chrom & Dioxin. The second part covers what could be best described as life in the Allied German States in 2058. It does update events from the previous two books up to 2058, and it also introduces the German branch of the Draco Foundation, as well as a new corp, Proteus AG (parts of which were later adapted into Target: Smuggler Havens). The third part provides detailed write-ups on some more places in Germany: Berlin (which has had some major changes), Bremen, and the SOX wasteland.
I always try to find something positive to say about anything, but I must admit, I'm very hard pressed to find anything good to say about this one. Even though I've never been to Austria, I found some parts of the write-up to be laughable, to be kind (the NPCs at the end I found particularly farcical). The other sections seemed to add very little of meaningful value, and I was very unhappy about the changes they made to Berlin — they turned it into just another corp-controlled sprawl. And, though I usually don't pay much attention to the art, I must say that the art — with exception to the pieces done by Fritz Freund — truly tanked.
Buy this only if you're a hardcore collector. Otherwise pass this up. Even if you're planning on a run in Austria, I think you'd be better making up your own stuff than going with what's in here.
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As mentioned above, FanPro has translated a large number of English-language Shadowrun books into German. Below is a list that is complete to the best of the site maintainer's knowledge, with links to the reviews of the English books on which they are based. For help with this list, thanks go out to Jon Szeto, Ulrich Haupt, Arkane, and Sven De Herdt (who all provided either a list or a pointer to one), as well as to FanPro (whose web page was very helpful, if too cluttered with "features").
As FanPro doesn't list ISBN numbers for most books on their web site, many quoted here are Jon Szeto's guesstimates based on FanPro's stock numbers, which appear to be based on the books' ISBNs.
ISBN: 3-89064-700-6
Price: DM 65
Pages: 320 (incl. 40 color)
Translation of: Shadowrun, Second Edition
ISBN: 3-89064-701-4
Price: DM 29.80
Pages: 24
Translation of: Shadowrun Gamemaster's Screen (Although the actual game information is for use with second edition rules, the adventure from FASA's first-edition screen is included.)
ISBN: 3-89064-702-2
Price: DM 29.80
Pages: 120
Translation of: Street Samurai Catalog (presumably, this book has second-edition game stats).
ISBN: 3-89064-703-0
Price: DM 24.80
Pages: 64
Translation of: DNA/DOA
ISBN: 3-89064-704-9
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: 128 (incl. 8 color)
Translation of: Sprawl Sites
ISBN: 3-89064-705-7
Price: DM 26.80
Pages: 80
Translation of: Mercurial
ISBN: 3-89064-706-5
Price: DM 39.80
Pages: 188 (incl. 8 color)
Translation of: The Grimoire — The Manual of Practical Thaumaturgy 15th Edition, 2053
ISBN: 3-89064-707-3
Price: DM 24.80
Pages: 64
Translation of: Bottled Demon
ISBN: 3-89064-703-0
Price: DM 49.80
Pages: ?
Translation of: Virtual Realities 2.0
ISBN: 3-89064-711-0
Price: DM 24.80
Pages: 78
Translation of: Dreamchipper
ISBN: 3-89064-712-X
Price: DM 24.80
Pages: 68
Translation of: Queen Euphoria
ISBN: 3-89064-713-8
Price: DM 39.80
Pages: 188 (incl. 8 color)
Translation of: Paranormal Animals of North America
ISBN: 3-89064-714-6
Price: DM 39.80
Pages: ?
Translation of: Shadowtech
ISBN: 3-89064-715-4
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: ?
Translation of: Harlequin
ISBN: 3-89064-716-2
Price: DM 39.80
Pages: ?
Translation of: The Universal Brotherhood
ISBN: 3-89064-717-0
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: ?
Translation of: Rigger Black Book
ISBN: 3-89064-718-9
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: 8
Translation of: Sprawl Maps
ISBN: 3-89064-719-7
Price: DM 45.00
Pages: ?
Translation of: Seattle Sourcebook
ISBN: 3-89064-720-0
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: ?
Translation of: Fields of Fire
ISBN: 3-89064-721-9
Price: DM 24.80
Pages: ?
Translation of: Dragon Hunt
ISBN: 3-89064-722-7
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: ?
Translation of: Cybertechnology
ISBN: 3-89064-723-5
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: ?
Translation of: The Neo-Anarchists' Guide to Real Life
ISBN: 3-89064-724-3
Price: DM 39.80
Pages: ?
Translation of: Corporate Shadowfiles
ISBN: 3-89064-728-6
Price: DM 49.80
Pages: 216
Translation of: The Neo-Anarchist's Guide to North America, Native American Nations Volume One & Native American Nations Volume Two
ISBN: 3-89064-729-4
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: ?
Translation of: Harlequin's Back
ISBN: 3-89064-730-8
Price: ?
Pages: ?
Translation of: unknown
ISBN: 3-89064-731-6
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: 136
Translation of: Shadowrun Companion: Beyond the Shadows
ISBN: 3-89064-732-4
Price: DM 39.80
Pages: 160
Translation of: Awakenings — New Magic in 2057
ISBN: 3-89064-734-0
Price: ?
Pages: ?
Translation of: High Tech & Low Life (As the FASA-published book also has German text, the FanPro version is most likely exactly the same as the FASA one.)
ISBN: 3-89064-735-9
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: 128 (8 color)
Translation of: Corporate Security Handbook
ISBN: 3-89064-736-7
Price: DM 45.00
Pages: 194 (8 color)
Translation of: Cyberpirates!
ISBN: 3-89064-737-5
Price: DM 36.00
Pages: 88
Translation of: Blood in the Boardroom
ISBN: 3-89064-738-3
Price: DM 49.80
Pages: 260
Translation of: Tir Tairngire, Tír na nÓg, plus original material about Pomorya (one of the German states)
ISBN: 3-89064-740-5
Price: DM 69.00
Pages: ?
Translation of: Shadowrun, Third Edition, with a few pages of additional material that talks aout Germany in the Sixth World.
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